At the lowest end of the industry it’s common to get free consultations because it’s too much expense for individuals otherwise, but in corporate law or higher end services I believe it’s much less common.

I’ve been to a lawyer once, and this happened. I got billed and told to go to a different lawyer.

The point of technology is to make our lives easier and cheaper. There's no point to have chatgpt to charge this way other than to make the capitalist owners more money.

Otherwise the self-serve machines at Mcdonalds should cost the company the same as an employee with a fair salary. Mass assembly lines building cars and machines should cost the same as 100+ workers including costs of health benefits and breaks.